


Apples to Apples

by yogkabob



Category: MindCrack RPF
Genre: Blood, Cannibalism, Gen, UHC, all of these ships are brief and only implied, it doesn't even have to be shippy if you don't want it to be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-14
Updated: 2015-05-15
Packaged: 2018-03-30 11:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3934372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yogkabob/pseuds/yogkabob
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes the players are just as brutal as the game, and UHC is one of the most brutal games you can play.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Pause’s iron-clad feet were heavy, but he persisted. His ankles ached and the soles of his feet slipped on the rough bark. The green leaves of the tree rustled gently in the wind, taunting him, teasing him. He knew they held treasures that he wanted.  _Needed_. 

He lunged for the nearest branch and held on tight. The wood creaked under his weight, and so did his arms;  _oh, God_ , he really should have taken off his iron armor before he went on an apple hunt. Tears pricked at his eyes until he found his footing. Splinters danced below the skin of his fingers and nails. The tree was a huge one, with an impressive length of branches, and undoubtedly held an array of apples for the picking. Pause just had to find them. He had gold burning a hold in his supplies pack. After scanning the tree yet again for apples, he let out a long, frustrated breath. He removed his helmet, tossing it onto the ground. 

“Fuck!” he growled. He was already injured, and putting his hands in such bad shape seemed like more trouble than what it was worth. Not to mention, an ominous oak tree in the middle of a barren desert was a beacon for trouble. All of his bonemeal went into this thing, and it turns out to not even bear fruit? Bullshit! He angrily dug his diamond dagger into the trees bark, finding momentary satisfaction at the crunching of wood and peeling of bark. It was short lived, however, when something rushed through the leaves and bounced from the logs near his head. He didn’t get a glimpse of it, but his heart dropped. He knew that smell. Sickly sweet and mouth watering. He looked down at the ground below him and saw it.

The core of a golden apple. 

“Pause.” A smooth, clam voice. An arrow lodged itself into the wood, centimeters from Pause’s head. He suddenly wished he had his helmet. 

In his surprise, he slipped and fell. There went another point of health. Within seconds, the shattering of glass filled his senses and his limbs felt heavy as led. Weakness. Fuck. He drowsily looked up, squinting into the glaring sun only to see Etho. Blood red steam lifted from his skin, and Pause watched as bruises and scrapes faded and healed. In his armor, he simply couldn’t bring himself to move. Etho crossed his arms and stared down at him in disapproval.

“Pause,” he said again. The Native attempted to scoot away, but Etho’s wolves stood on either side of him and snarled. “You can’t treat a tree that way and expect it to drop apples.” 

“E-Etho, I– don’t you.. fucking–!”

He swore desperately when Etho stepped closer, cornering him against the tree’s thick trunk, and settled a foot atop Pause’s plated chest. His ankles are protected by rough diamonds. In his hands he held a glowing diamond sword. He pressed the flat of the cold blade against Pause’s cheek. 

“You’re cute when you’re scared,” he smiled. Pause grunted violently in attempts to shake Etho off. His weapon was still lodged in the tree, several meters in the air. Without his helmet, his head and neck were beautifully exposed to Etho. “You shouldn’t be, though. I’ll make this quick.”

Pause’s angry cursing was replaced with the gurgling and spurting of blood. Etho’s sword swiped expertly across his throat before he even noticed the blade’s motion. Pause coughed and gagged against the trickle of hot blood down his throat, the splashing spray dribbling down Etho’s iron pants. He didn’t remove his foot; instead, he leaned in close and dragged his finger in the same motion that his sword had followed against Pause’s slit throat. Heavily lidded eyes stared into wide and frantic ones as Etho slipped the bloody, dripping finger into his mouth. Pause groped at thin air as his body tensed up. Even his dark skin seemed to pale in the shade of the leaves, and eventually his arms dropped and his eyes rolled back with a short exhale of air. Etho wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, looking around. His dogs eagerly lapped at the remaining blood. 

Only a few more to go. Etho considered taking it a bit farther, maybe putting Pause up for a little display for Beef to hopefully find. Possibly slip in a small snack before continuing his hunt. Instead, he dragged Pause from his pool of blood and into the sun to bake, leaving a short trail in the now crimson sand. The smell would soon bring in even the most tame dogs for miles; a magnet for anyone left. He nimbly climbed into the tree that Pause had so hated, pulled an apple from a nearby branch, and waited. 


	2. Chapter 2

Etho became more attached to the tree then he expected. It provided cool shade in the midst of the hot, dry biome and the sound of the leaves gently rustling was comforting. His dogs paced near the trunk in the shade; they napped and played together while waiting for their master to return. Birds even began to nest in the higher levels of the tree; their chirping and fluttering brought distraction during the long hours. 

Etho was patient, however. He knew people would come; and if they didn’t, he would find them. It had been a little longer than a day. One more had been picked off by sheer bad luck– Guude had been victim to a lurking skeleton. His corpse had been left behind and his new spawn was somewhere else; somewhere better. Along with all of the other losers so far, he was to be taken and his memories wiped of the entirety of the UHC. Etho knew this fate waited for even the winner. That didn’t stop him from sharpening his sword while whistling loudly to the birds above him. Pause’s body laid several meters away, the bloody sand around him slowly darkening and going brown as it dried in the sun. It hadn’t started to produce stench yet, but it was a matter of days that Etho was willing to wait out. By then, several people had proudly announced their coordinates, and gotten into a few scuffles, but loss was minimal. All humor was gone from the ring’s atmosphere. 

Soft growling brought Etho back from his daydreaming of a fresh kill, of blood hotter than the glaring sun of the desert dripping down his throat. Of a meal. He looked around carefully, silently; his dogs had awoken and were staring towards the west. A faint figure, almost a simple speck on the horizon, was just barely visible among the dunes. Etho tightened his grip on his sword, but did not make a move. He didn’t want his dogs getting excited and attacking too soon. Instead, he motioned for them to sit and watched. It took what felt like an hour; by then, the sun was just beginning to dip towards the horizon, but the figure was finally visible. Beef stumbled past cacti, almost completely missing the towering oak tree in the distance. His feet dragged in the sand and left long ruts behind him. Etho almost felt bad, Beef appeared to be in such bad shape. But, oh, how good it was going to be; such a show he was expecting! Etho’s green vest blended in well with the leaves around him, so he did not fear once Beef ventured closer. He could hear him clearly by the time he made a sound.

“What…?” Beef muttered to himself. He first looked at and scanned the tree. Before his eyes could settle on the gnarled trunk and sitting canines, he saw the blood. It wasn’t difficult to guess what happened next. His eyes wearily followed the trail of copper droplets and his loud cry was enough to get the two eager dogs to whine. “Oh, G-God, holy shit… Pause?” 

Such a sad sight. Beef choked on his words, looking down at his beloved slaughtered Pause. It was exactly what Etho wanted. Let the emotions settle in deep, let it stew. He listened and watched as Beef kneeled down next to the body. 

“What… what did they do to you?” Beef asked quietly, terrified. Kills were usually fast, sudden. An arrow to the neck, or a stab to the chest. A desperate defensive move. Never something so precise. Despite being mortified, he didn’t make a move to look around; his fatal mistake. Etho took a long, deep breath and made his move. He slipped down from the majestic branches and landed with a thud. Beef almost didn’t even turn his head, too busy uselessly mourning. As soon as he saw Etho, however, he scrambled away with sudden new energy. He drew his sword clumsily. It was diamond, too, but lacked Etho’s intimidating glow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (sorry for the choppy chapter cuts/short chapter, I didn't want to cut in the middle of the stuff that comes next!! 0: )


	3. Chapter 3

“Etho,” Beef said loudly, angrily. His eyes were red and damp, his voice held a special kind of poison behind it. 

“Beef,” Etho replied, just as calm as he’d been with Pause. His fingers twitched with hunger. Pause had been sweet enough to make his toes curl, and he knew Beef held further treasures to be tasted. “Sorry about Pause. I couldn’t stand him beating the poor tree like that.” At that, he tossed something to Beef, who didn’t catch it but instead dodged it. Pause’s knife. They both knew the butcher’s apron was stained with more than cow’s blood; he wasn’t afraid to get dirty. Neither was Etho. 

Suddenly, molten rock was licking at the ground before his toes. A lava bucket. Clever of Beef, but the thick orange sludge was slow moving and didn’t quite reach Etho before he hopped out of the way. Beef grunted angrily as he lunged for the quick-moving man, past the glowing lava, but Etho brought up a quick hand and plunged his sword between the weak spots of Beef’s chestplate. It was a direct slice into his shoulder. Beef screamed and momentarily lost grip on his sword; but the adrenaline was thick in the air, and he kept moving. He was bigger than Etho in the ways of build, and was easily able to out-balance him and bring their skulls crashing together in a violent headbutt. That… Etho had not been expecting. He stumbled, seeing stars and feeling something dribble down his face, but the move had dazed Beef just as much. 

The small moment that Beef took to compose himself was one of his last. Etho hurriedly swiped his knees out from under him, and Beef toppled. Being downed in a heavy suit of armor was a death sentence, especially when it was hastily made and not meant for mobility. Beef made the attempt to get up, but Etho balanced the tip of his blade atop Beef’s battered iron helmet in warning. “Don’t move.” He said sternly. Beef’s breathing was labored from exhaustion and blood loss. Blood was rolling down his arm, pooling in his palms. Sand caked to his stained armor. Etho dipped two fingers into the slot between his chestpiece and protective arm coverings. The fingers were dripping with blood when he removed them. Beef watched in terror as Etho licked them clean, smiling a blood-stained smile. 

“You taste so good,” he sighed peacefully. His own bloody nose dribbled past his lips and down his chin. He looked like a wild animal. Beef cried out.

“What the hell–!” he shouted. “Y-You, you did this to Pause too!”

Etho rolled his eyes then glared at him. Another dip of the fingers, and he happily lapped it up. His stomach was in knots; he couldn’t take this anymore. He kissed Beef on the cheek, leaving behind a mouth-shaped smudge of blood on his already filthy skin. “Sorry, Beef. See you on the other side, eh?”

Akin to Pause’s death, Beef was killed by a sword to the throat. He died a little bit quicker, but a little more violently; he’d tried to fight it, to move, but it only exhausted him in the long run. Etho waited for that familiar exhale, the final sigh, and eagerly brought his mouth down to the gaping wound. By then it was impossible to distinguish between Beef’s blood and his own, but he didn’t care. Blood trickled down his face and neck, soaking into his vest and shirt collar. A small noise in satisfaction could be heard among the desperate feeding. 

“Oh, Beef…” Etho moaned quietly. “You really do taste  _so good_.”

He tore himself away from his dead friend and looked around, still breathing heavily. Several feet away, half buried in the sand, was Pause’s diamond dagger. Etho grabbed it and looked back to Beef, grinning. A few small remaining puddles of lava bubbled softly as they slowly cooled. They lit up the darkening area; luckily, they hadn’t quite reached the tree. Quickly, expertly, Etho sliced away at Beef’s arm after having slipped off most of his armor. Beef always tasted of his name, and Etho was even quicker in throwing down some logs and lighting them with a flint and steel. He didn’t mind if the light and smoke attracted the few remaining players, but hoped they didn’t interrupt his well-earned meal. 

Well-earned it was. The thick meat of Beef’s bicep was soon sizzling above the crackling fire, and it was agony not to bite into it as soon as he removed it from the heat. Instead, he let it cool  _then_  began to eat. His moans could be heard across the entire arena if one listened hard enough. Such reward was something he only craved for under the pressure of the games. Soon, it would all be over and his memory would be wiped and body replaced. Nobody would remember a thing, Beef and Pause would be his best friends again, and he would only hunger for the flesh of animals like everybody else. 

Etho knew this. But he ate anyways. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for clarification: etho didn't eat pause bc he wanted to use him as a magnet with minimal damage. his dogs didn't get into the fight because i did not want to harm the precious puppies. also don't eat your friends.


End file.
